BEIRUT The American University in Beirut (AUB) said on Friday that a senior member of its American staff has been missing since Thursday.

Several U.S. academic staff were kidnapped from the AUB during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war by Muslim activists opposed to U.S. policy in the Middle East.

The AUB said in a statement the last contact it knew of with 52-year-old Dean of Student Affairs Dean Kevlin was on Thursday night, when he told his assistant that he would return to his office on Friday after visiting a student in hospital.

An AUB check of hospital records showed that no student had been examined or admitted at that time. "There was no further communication from Dean Kevlin up to the present time. He did not return to his office nor to his apartment. He has not been admitted to any hospital," it added.

Lebanese security sources said that police were searching for Kevlin, who started at the AUB in November 1999.

Kevlin's family live in Brooklyn, New York. AUB officials would not say if they believed he had been kidnapped. U.S. Embassy officials were not immediately available.

"All of us at AUB are deeply disturbed by Dean Kevlin's unexplained disappearance. We very much hope that there will be an early clarification of his situation," the statement added.

A wave of anti-U.S. sentiment has swept the Middle East since a Palestinian uprising for independence from Israel erupted in the West Bank and Gaza in late September. Many Arabs see the United States as biased in favor of the Jewish regime.

U.S. embassies in the Middle East have also advised their citizens to be on alert. (Reuter)